Shrinkage tipshow to maximize the length of COILY and KINKY hair Beautiful long hair. Shrinkage? Not much for meAfter shampooing or simply when the weather is humid, kinky hair tends to shrink. This is called shrinkage. Even though it’s normal, it can be very annoying sometimes when you have not decided to play it short and shrinkage causes up to a 75% decrease in length. It’s also a little disappointing that your hair doesn’t grow as fast as you’d like.
In reality, appearances are deceiving and coily hair grows about an inch a month, which is as much as any other Caucasian or Asian hair type, but because it “curls”, you don’t see it much or at all.
Your hair is kind of elastic and that’s even a sign of good health, you just have to know how to tame it by adopting a quick and simple hair routine.
Here are some great ways to keep your hair long and bouncy, to relax and most importantly to relax that stubborn hair!
First of all, let your hair air dry about 80%. This will avoid the heat of drying which is never ideal for hair health. When you then proceed to finish drying your hair with a hair dryer, remember to use good hydrating and nourishing products beforehand that will protect it from dryness and breakage. We recommend Karigins Hydra-Protective Styling Leave-In Lotion or Naturalong Nourishing Leave-In Milk.
Among the many anti-shrinkage methods, here are some simple and effective ones that you can alternate as you wish:
• “String braids” or “banding”.
After dividing the hair into sections, roll up a strand or braid it from root to tip. Cotton strings, scrunchies or soft headbands will stretch the hair fiber during drying. However, don’t pull too hard on the roots as this can cause breakage and even eventually baldness at the temples.
Done gently, this method can be applied to children.
• High bun
After shampooing, and with towel-dried and pre-air-dried hair, form a bun on the top of your head, secured with pins.
Keep it in place for at least 2 hours, but if you like it, you can even keep it up for a few days before you undo it. Again, don’t pull too hard on the roots, remember that the hair bulb doesn’t like pulling and in the long run, it could make you pay with localized baldness!
• Bantu Knots
Separate your hair into sections (this is the basis for many washing, haircare and styling techniques because it is easier to control) and roll the strands in the same direction until they form a knot and then secure them well. Once your hair is undone, the result is beautiful, soft curls that are easy to style.
• Flexi-rods, Rollers (flexible curlers)
Hairstyling tools like these are one of the classic methods recommended for forming tight curls, twists, pretty English curls, or simply to relax your curls.
After wrapping your thoroughly towel-dried hair around these rollers or flexi-rods (don't forget that microfiber towels are your best friend), it's best to air-dry your hair.
• Cornrows, Twists, Braids
You’ve probably known this since childhood, cornrows or twists have a way of stretching kinky hair.
As with the other routines, gently dry your hair after shampoo and then thoroughly hydrate and nourish it with Naturalong Hydra-boost Cream.
Seal in moisture with the highly nourishing Karigins shea butter to optimize the result.
Increase the number of sections according to the thickness of your hair: for a beautiful result, the more braids or twists the better. Now, arm yourself with a little patience because if you undo your hair too quickly, it will not be completely dry and you won’t get that sublime look of a star…
    • Hair dryer
A classic but proceed with caution because it contributes to hair dryness.
Use the “cool” setting as much as possible. Once your hair is thoroughly towel-dried, as we said above, start brushing by stretching each section gently and patiently.
We hope these tips will help you, but please don’t hesitate to ask us questions! We are here to discuss and advise you.
So now, which anti-shrinkage method will you choose?
We are looking forward to hearing your experiences and comments to help out our little community.
 Crédit photos: ISTOCK |